I woke up this morning feeling sweaty and I could have sworn I smelled cat pee.

Feeling a bit frightened that perhaps my cat had left me a surprise in my bedroom, I sniffed around but the smell followed me everywhere. That's when I gave myself a good sniff and voila, discovered that the odor was coming from me.

Yay, I am "smelly cat" from Friends.

Anywho, I was wondering if this is a sign of ketosis. I have heard that sweat and urine take on a fruity acetone odor, but I have never heard anyone describe it as cat pee before. Just a bit curious.

Also, how do you manage to not um, reek when around other people? Body sprays and such are an obvious solution, but the way I am sweating....probably have to spray myself with half the bottle to cover up my litter box scent.

On a positive note, I am feeling better. Have more energy and was able to jog last night. Only issue I had with jogging was that my stomach began to cramp. I am thinking that is possibly from dehydration so I am going to push more water and see if maybe my potassium levels are off.

Okay, now my pee smells like buttered popcorn. Maybe my sweat smelled like cat pee this morning because I had coffee way early in the morning with my breakfast before taking a nap.
Perhaps the coffee seeped out through my sweat while I slept?

Just scared me a bit. I read that it could be a sign of muscle being used as fuel due to carb intake being too low. I am not measuring the net carbs with the subtraction of the fiber grams, but measuring the grams of carbs as grams of carbs.

The last two days my total daily carb intake has been extremely low, like 4% or lower.

Just don't want to make myself sick or so something dangerous. To top it all off I discovered that the Atkins book I ordered was the wrong one....so I put an order in for the DANDR which I am hoping will arrive here soon.

Try drinking more water. 8-10 8oz glasses a day should be fine. When in ketosis your body has to eliminate the ketones from the fat and you will smell different than normal. Your breath will smell bad as well...I just chew sugar free gum and brush several times a day. Once you are sufficiently hydrated the odors will be a lot better. Pick up the original Atkins book. It actually explains a lot of the science of this.

Thank you so much!
I will make sure to up the water intake, especially since I am going to try to start working out like I usually do.

I put in an order for DANDR and am considering looking for the original '72 book to see what the original diet and explanations were about the phases.

The cravings became really intense today and seemed worse than usual. Hoping they will ease off soon. Came close to eating some ice cream but managed to say no.

My hypoglycemia is doing better with this way of eating than it did when i tried to just keep my carbs at a minimum.

I don't have a whole lot of weight to lose but I really would like to just feel better in general and not have unstable blood sugar spells and constant fatigue following a meal that includes carbs. Plus, it seemed like I would keep carbs to a minimum then *poof* find myself emotionally eating cookies and candy or chips. Turned into a yo-yo effect that kept me from progressing or feeling healthy.

For me it's an ashy metallic taste in my mouth. Pee seems stronger smelling but have NOT noticed the smell of cat pee, lol

Quote:

Originally Posted by inhopesoflosing10

I woke up this morning feeling sweaty and I could have sworn I smelled cat pee.

Feeling a bit frightened that perhaps my cat had left me a surprise in my bedroom, I sniffed around but the smell followed me everywhere. That's when I gave myself a good sniff and voila, discovered that the odor was coming from me.

Yay, I am "smelly cat" from Friends.

Anywho, I was wondering if this is a sign of ketosis. I have heard that sweat and urine take on a fruity acetone odor, but I have never heard anyone describe it as cat pee before. Just a bit curious.

Also, how do you manage to not um, reek when around other people? Body sprays and such are an obvious solution, but the way I am sweating....probably have to spray myself with half the bottle to cover up my litter box scent.

On a positive note, I am feeling better. Have more energy and was able to jog last night. Only issue I had with jogging was that my stomach began to cramp. I am thinking that is possibly from dehydration so I am going to push more water and see if maybe my potassium levels are off.

Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Sincerely,
Stinky

__________________
5'5" medium frame, 42 yrs
Began on 9/1/10 with several "breaks"
over holidays and a weeklong cruise
170/152/140 - I still lost 18 lbs!

LOL yes, it was definitely a bit scary. Had a strong ammonia smell to it that reminded me of cat pee.

I read a few things online that scared the heck out of me, including that that was a sign of burning muscle instead of fat, liver disease and even possibly ketoacidosis....all of those possibilities are so not good.

I am thinking that since I am still alive and have not lost muscle mass that it was just me sweating out coffee. Sometimes coffee can take on that acidic smell that is reminiscent of cat pee.....hope that doesn't sound too weird.

Wow, the last time I paid such close attention to my bodily functions I was pregnant.

and 2 tablespoons is 8 carbs with 3 of fiber so 5 net carbs. I had a spoonful for "dessert and it was awesome. I've been reading the coconut oil thread and have been wanting to add it to my diet but figured I couldn't with the nausea. This thing tastes sort of like a Mounds bar!!! You can't eat too much though because it is FATTY, you will only want a spoonful. And for some reason I feel hot after eating it, like my metabolism has sped up??

Quote:

Originally Posted by inhopesoflosing10

LOL yes, it was definitely a bit scary. Had a strong ammonia smell to it that reminded me of cat pee.

I read a few things online that scared the heck out of me, including that that was a sign of burning muscle instead of fat, liver disease and even possibly ketoacidosis....all of those possibilities are so not good.

I am thinking that since I am still alive and have not lost muscle mass that it was just me sweating out coffee. Sometimes coffee can take on that acidic smell that is reminiscent of cat pee.....hope that doesn't sound too weird.

Wow, the last time I paid such close attention to my bodily functions I was pregnant.

__________________
5'5" medium frame, 42 yrs
Began on 9/1/10 with several "breaks"
over holidays and a weeklong cruise
170/152/140 - I still lost 18 lbs!

That's great that you're feeling better! It's exactly like early pregnancy and I keep reminding myself that the side effects will not last nowhere near as long as the first trimester so I can bear with it.

I love chocolate and nutella! I am in a small Texas town so I will have to see if I can find any of those things out here.
Are they induction friendly?

Wish I had a better idea of where I am as far as ketosis goes. I think I have hit it but the symptoms keep wavering so i have no idea.

Keeping my carbs below 20 grams total daily so I am sure I have hit it or am about to?

Those ketostix are really helpful. I'm not wasting money on them this time because I can tell from the bad taste in my mouth and wirey/spacy feeling that I'm in it and then after awhile that fades and there is more the energy and less of the bad taste although you still get it once in a while. But the ketostix are solid proof nad I found them helpful when I was first starting.

Today is day 5 and I FEEL WAY BETTER

Quote:

Originally Posted by inhopesoflosing10

That's great that you're feeling better! It's exactly like early pregnancy and I keep reminding myself that the side effects will not last nowhere near as long as the first trimester so I can bear with it.

I love chocolate and nutella! I am in a small Texas town so I will have to see if I can find any of those things out here.
Are they induction friendly?

Wish I had a better idea of where I am as far as ketosis goes. I think I have hit it but the symptoms keep wavering so i have no idea.

Keeping my carbs below 20 grams total daily so I am sure I have hit it or am about to?

__________________
5'5" medium frame, 42 yrs
Began on 9/1/10 with several "breaks"
over holidays and a weeklong cruise
170/152/140 - I still lost 18 lbs!

Probably not drinking enough water following vigorous exercise and now I am paying for it the next day. This morning I almost knocked myself out when I went to tinkle....LOL.
That was my keto stick and it smacked me across my face.

No cat pee here but I do smell different. My mouth is metallicky. I too love my chocolate and I checked the other day and nutella is a no go same with chocolate. But if you have sugar free whipped cream and sprinkle a very small amount of unsweetened powdered cocoa, mix well and Voila! Yumminess with a touch of chocolate.

My buddy's wife left him and he needed a place to crash for a few months, so I let him rent my spare room. The instant the guy started living here it started to smell like cat piss everywhere he went. It was overwhelming sometimes. We played on a softball team together and one time we were huddling up and one of the guys were like, "Dude, do you have freaking cats?!?!"

I started doing my research and found that it's from too much protein. When your body processes too much protein, your sweat and urine will have an ammonia smell to it. This guy was far from low carb, but he would drink protein shakes before and after he did everything. Running, playing softball, lifting, whatever. I told him about it and he stopped the protein and wa-la, no more cat pee.

I laughed when I read about the cat pee smell. This started for me yesterday and I was yelling at the cat. I then realized it was me smelling like the litter box. LOL! I have had zero energy. It seems it is all I can do to get up in the morning. I do because I have to work. Once I get going feel a little better but then by the time I get home I am exhausted and I sit at a desk all day.

I laughed when I read about the cat pee smell. This started for me yesterday and I was yelling at the cat. I then realized it was me smelling like the litter box. LOL! I have had zero energy. It seems it is all I can do to get up in the morning. I do because I have to work. Once I get going feel a little better but then by the time I get home I am exhausted and I sit at a desk all day.

Too much protein and not enough fat. You're in the 'Zone of Misery' where you have too much protein (and carbs sometimes) and not enough fat.

Most of the time, the ZoM results from too much protein and/or carb, such that you’re still too low in carb to meet all of your brain’s needs for glucose, but you have too much (carb and/or protein) to promote adequate B-OHB generation.

This may be your answer...low protein diet...3-Methylcrotonylglycinuria, multiple carboxylase deficiency or 3MCC is another autosomal recessive genetic trait means that this faulty gene usually appears when two carriers have children together and pass it to their offspring. In this case the body is unable to process certain proteins properly. Patients have abnormal levels of an enzyme that helps break down proteins containing the building block (amino acid) called leucine. As a carboxylase enzyme, 3-MCC requires biotin for activity. There are four carboxylases in humans that use biotin and each can be deficient singly or together. If biotin metabolism is defective, functions of all four carboxylases will be low, resulting in Multiple Carboxylase Deficiency. MCC is predominantly located in the inner membrane of the mitochondria. The patient presents an odor like male cat urine.

I had noticed when I was doing induction in May (I'm restarting now) that my sweat did smell really different. I knew something was going on; good to learn more about this stuff. I have had that cat pee smell in the past on rare occasions and it always worked itself out. Weird, isn't it?

i had the same experience, my arm pits smelled like cat pee about 2 hours after i showered and put on deodorant i even changed brands because i though it might be some weird chemical reaction! it didn't hepl. it went away when i upped my veggies!

This thread was from a long time ago - but I am totally having this issue! Oh my WORD! I can hardly stand myself! I went to the Dr. for it - not bacterial, although I did have a yeast infection. But it started the same time as going low carb.

Has anyone found a great solution for this?

I have to wear feminine pads - good ones, like the kind for light urine leakage, in public so as not to knock myself and others over. I don't feel like those are healthy things to wear daily, though!

There is a difference between keto smell and ammonia smell. On me, keto smells almost fruity, dense, and sweetish, but nit sweet. Ammonia smell is sharp and tangy, like well ammonia, or similar to vinegar, if you whiffed a bottle of white vinegar. Yuck, btw.
In the past, i went on a very low calorie diet. The ammonia smell meant, according to doc, that it was too low calorie for me, and was unhealthy. It often came on strongest when I exercised. I added more cals and it went away.
I have heard it meant I was burning my own muscle mass. I've also heard it can mean high uric acid levels.

Hopefully someone will have more concrete info. But Having experienced both smells on myself, I felt i could add what the difference was, for me.

The yeast infection though, could be a byproduct of candida die off, from the change in your diet.If that's more the case, you might want to add a Probiotic for a couple weeks.

During induction when I work out I smell very pungent, unlike when I'm not doing Atkins.
When I go to the restroom it's also very dark and foamy along with a stronger smell, I know TMI and gross.
I will also wake up sweating a lot more. Sometimes when I'm laying there I can feel my entire body pulsating. Kind of alarming.

Drinking tons of water too. When I work out and get hot it's an odd sort of cold flash or something. It feels different than when I'm not on atkins and working out.